VIDEO: Andrée Belle “The Definition of Insanity”
Andrée Belle is a stunning musician and has a very unique background within the LA music community. Her new album The Return To Queendom features a plethora of studio musicians that have worked with many legends both modern and old, exploring fusions of jazz, soul, pop, and more. The messaging is very strong and pure, presented with a multiple octave vocal range.
VIDEO: Andrée Belle “The Definition of Insanity“
Credits
Producers: Andrée Belle and Sharmila Sahni
Director: Sharmila Sahni
Choreographer: Monika Felice Smith
Cinematographer: Kyle Fallon
1st AD: Sarah Greenwald
Editor: Nick Ross
Hair Artist: Dean Roybal
Makeup Artist: Jennifer Naideth
Musicians:
Vocals: Andrée Belle
Guitar: Tim Conley
Keys: Doug Carter
Bass: Yuki Lin Hayashi
Drums: Gene Coye
Violin: Luis Mascero
Viola: Thom Lea
Cello: Artyom Manukyan
Trumpet: Aaron Janik
Trombone: Jonah Levine
Saxophone: Daniel Rotem
“The Definition of Insanity is one of the most personal songs on the record. It’s about the darkest love relationship I’ve experienced. The opening lyrics state: “thought my heart was open like the sky but you broke it open to another stratosphere, light pours forth from a world within me that was not born until you arrived.” It’s a song about heartbreakthrough. How do we transmute our heartbreak into lessons, light, self-love, and expansion? How do we alchemize our pain? The Definition of Insanity is doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results. In this case, it’s me going back to an unhealthy relationship, hoping that this time it’ll be different. “I die each day but awake in faith. I light candles with prayers that your words and actions will dance a dance.” Performing it live has been powerful. Women have come up to me sharing how they resonate with the song especially with the lyrics- “you called me a queen but tried to take away my crown. This art piece journeys the course of the relationship- the elation, magic, beauty, sensuality and passion of romance, which disintegrates into a place of discord, darkness, madness, and losing oneself in the dysfunction of the relationship. The dense and multifaceted composition reflects the complexity of the relationship. Eventually, the journey leads to an exorcism (as heard in the musical descent into madness), surrender, transmutation, and ultimately finding healing and a reclaiming of oneself.” – Andrée Belle
The theme of the album is returning to personal power and not just a simple power, but the compelling, strong, dynamic power of a queen. The Definition of Insanity marks the journey near the climax, the spiral of an all-consuming love where immense amounts of energy are spent walking the line, doing anything not to cascade over the edge. It’s a microcosm in the love story of a life, the one that pushes you over the edge, guaranteeing nothing will be the same again. How you come out of that determines your destiny. We wanted to viscerally capture that life-changing ride, in three acts, from the elation of a dreamy love to the magic’s slow fade to the descent into a madness that devours. Which ultimately led us to ask, what does the moment look like after the unraveling?” – Sharmila Sahni
Photo c/o Elli Papayanopoulos
